Apply Foundation Like This and It Looks Like Skin - Formulator Secrets

There are a million foundation tutorials on YouTube, but no one is going to tell you how certain formulas work and why they are making your skin look flawless. I formulate cosmetics for a living and I want to teach you about the ingredients and things to look for in your products. You can be a smart shopper, choose the exact products, and do the right techniques that are going to give you the flawless skin that you want. Grab a notebook because makeup class is in session. Now, step one, and I know I can already hear people complaining about that one, is to shave your face. I know this seems very basic, but hear me out on this one. Every single content creator that you're watching right now who has beautiful looking foundation, they either shave their face, dermaplane, wax, anything to get that skin really smooth. Now, you all, I am hairy like a donkey. If I do not shave my face, my foundation will look patchy, it will look like a bumpy road. So, I have to do this and I've done this for many, many years. Not only does it help your foundation look flawless, it's going to help your skin overall because your skin care is going to absorb more effectively into the skin if you're able to slough off those dead skin cells. So, it does two things. It gets rid of the hair, it makes your canvas very smooth, it helps absorption of your skin care, which is also going to give you better skin, which we need to get flawless foundation. Now, step number two, and I will argue that this is the most critical step in this entire video, and that is to take care of your skin care. Now, hear me out on this one. Now, stay with me because I have very specific things that I do. I am 46. I'm going to get up very close to the camera. You know, I have some forehead wrinkles, I have redness and pigmentation, but the rest of my skin it has taken a lot of work to get it here. The things that completely transform how my foundation most often based off my skin care. So, first off, exfoliation. I don't play when it comes to exfoliation. Use a physical exfoliant like the Dermalogica one, Tatcha has a great one. Any sort of physical exfoliant that is very gentle, not nothing too harsh. Don't be pulling out that St. Apricot I St. Ives Apricot Scrub. Yes, are any of you old enough to remember? I remember, I was 12 when it came out, and I was using that all the time. It would tear up your face. So, do not pull that out. Pull out something lightweight. So, physical exfoliant and then one to two times a week in between the physical exfoliating, you need to use a liquid exfoliant. AHA, BHA, lactic acid, azelaic acid, glycolic acid, any sort of gentle acid in a toner or a serum is going to do amazing for you. The one that I'm really loving right now is a Korean brand. You can get it on Amazon. It's very affordable. It's A New A 10 Plus. I have this one here which is their tranexamic acid. I rotate between that. They also have an azelaic acid one. I rotate with these. I'll use it every other night. And that is going to help with skin cell turnover, pigmentation, texture, all of those things that we need to get that flawless base to our foundation. And then the third and final step is the most important. That is hydration. You need, if you have dry skin, a very good serum. And I look for the ingredient beta glucan. So, beta glucan is a humectant. It draws moisture to the skin. It doesn't matter how much water you drink, how much moisturizer you put on, if your body cannot retain the moisture that it needs, then it's always going to look dry and patchy under your foundation. So, I like the Mimeual Volume Up Time Block Serum. This has the beta glucan in there which is more effective than hyaluronic acid. It also has Volufiline in there. So, if you're aging like me and you need plumping, it's going to help plump up the skin. It is magic. I have bought probably three to four bottles of this by now. And then your moisturizer. This is the trick I'm going to show you all. Your moisturizer needs to be lightweight, nothing too occlusive or heavy so that when you put your foundation on top, it's not going to slip up or get greasy, but you still need to be hydrated. I like the Mimeual Time Block Moisturizer. This may be a little bit heavy for those of you who have combination oily skin. But if you have dry like me, this is hands down the best moisturizer cuz it also has beta glucan, but it has peptides in there which is amazing for the skin. You all do your research on that. So, that is my favorite brand. It's super affordable Korean skin care. They are not sponsoring today's video. I just really like the products. Now, here's my formulator trick. I have I this thoroughly, taken notes. I don't play when it comes to data. Out of my personal research of me testing and trying moisturizers to putting on my foundation, there's a specific time limit that you need to put your foundation on after you apply your moisturizer, and it's anywhere between 15 minutes to 1 hour. Any longer than an hour, your face can start to get greasy, and if you put your foundation on top of that, it can start to separate. Timing matters when it comes to when you apply your moisturizer and when you put your foundation on. I've tested it, I've taken notes. 15 minutes to an hour max. After that hour time limit, I start to notice my face starts to get greasy, the foundation doesn't look flawless anymore. So, timing matters as well as the products that you use. And then lastly, of course, we need our SPF in the morning. So, make sure you're using one. If you have dry skin like me, try to find one that has a nice glow to it. I love the Elf Wow Glow. It's affordable, it sits well under foundation, it gives me that glassy finish that I need. If you have combination or oily skin, I wouldn't use one with a glow, I would just get a matte SPF. A lot of Korean brands have amazing ones out there. You guys do your research on SPF. If you want a video on that, I can do it. But, apply that after your moisturizer, if that's your last skin care step, 15 minutes to an hour is the timing you have to put your foundation on top. Step number three is primer. And I I've heard the debate, I see a lot of content creators online saying, "Oh, you don't need primer." Can I be blunt and just get things off my chest for a second? I am so tired of 20-year-olds getting on camera and teaching everyone you don't need primer. I know because I used to say the same thing when I was in my 20s and 30s. "Oh, you don't need primer, save a step." No. 40-plus year-old skin and 20-year-old skin are very different ball games, and we need primer. Here's why from a formulator's perspective. Most foundations are going to be silicone based, 98% of them. There's a rare few that I recommend that are water based, but overall, most foundations are made have silicones in them because silicones coat the skin and give you that flawless-looking finish that everyone loves. But, in order for that to work well, you need to have like materials. You know how like water and oil don't mix? Same thing with foundations which have waters in them as an ingredient and then silicones, but water and oil don't mix. Your face produces oil, so foundations can slip around, separate, not look like skin unless you have silicone-based on top of silicone. So, that's why I say use a face primer. I have a couple that I recommend. I'll list it in the description box. I don't want to pitch products necessarily today, but look for primers that have dimethicone, trimethicone, cyclopentasiloxane, anything that ends with -one, o n e, or -oxane, o x a n e. That's a silicone, and that's what you need in your primer. That's going to fill in the pores. Let me show you an example. So, I have beauty lights here. I'm looking a little greasy right in here, and I have this primer by NYX. This is their shine killer one. So, you you can get a matte primer, you can get a hydrating one. It doesn't matter as long as it has silicones in it. Let me take a big old flat brush so you can see. And I know this is going to look crazy. It's black because it has, I believe, the clay in there, but look at my forehead. Let's put it on here, and I'm going to put it on. I know the black looks crazy. I promise that it blends in. Here, let me use my fingers. Let's do We'll do old school, you guys. Do you see how it smoothed it out? Now, this was live. I didn't edit it out. I wanted to show you in person. Do you see how smooth my forehead looks? Now, I have forehead lines going on here, but that primer took care of the oil, smoothed it out, and blurred it. So, now when I put my foundation on top, it's going to look like skin. So, please, especially if you're over 40, do not skip your face primer. Now, step four is a formulator secret that no one talks about except for me. That sounded really cocky, didn't it? I didn't mean to be like, "Oh, except for me." Most creators don't talk about this because it's a formulation with foundation. So, viscosity matters. Choose a thin viscosity formula. Now, let me show you what that is. So, viscosity is how fast or slow a liquid moves, aka how thin or thick it is. So, I have an example to show you. This is the L'Oréal True Match foundation. You're going to test your viscosity of any foundation you own or one that you want to buy. Take your hand flat like this, put a drop on the back of your hand, tilt it up straight like this, and watch to see if it moves. Do you see how it's flowing down? Now, it's kind of slow, so this is not a super liquidy formula, but it's still thin because it's moving. This has thin viscosity. Now, I have this other one. This is Guerlain Parure Gold Skin. This is a great matte foundation. She's pricey, but she's really good. But, it's matte, so usually matte foundations are going to be a little bit thicker. We can talk about that in another video. Same thing, hand straight, put a pump, tilt it up. It's not moving. Do you see how this one's dripping down? This one is pretty much staying put, so that is a thick viscosity. This is not going to look as much like skin. This is. Think about it like frosting a cake. If you have a really thin, kind of watery, liquidy type of frosting, it's going to slip right into that cake, and the cake is going to look like cake. But, if you have that really thick buttercream type frosting, it's going to sit on top all whipped on there, and you're going to feel It's going to be very obvious you have frosting on there. Same thing with frosting your cake with some foundation. So, let me show you. I'm going to take that thin viscosity formula, that L'Oréal True Match, and I'm going to buff it in. The trick is how you apply it as well. You want to use a buffing brush like this. This is the Anisa Pinnacle Foundation Brush. You'll know I love that one. It's amazing. But, thin viscosity plus a nice soft buffing brush, buffing it gently into the skin. Let me show you. I'm going to get up close to the camera so you all can see. That was just a little bit of foundation, but look at this side and this side. Let me get up close. It doesn't even look like I have foundation on. It looks like beautiful flawless skin, and that's because I used a thin formula. If I was to take this thicker one like here, which I still use sometimes, I will do a thicker viscosity, you've got to play it with a sponge. So, I pick up the thicker formula like this. It's thick enough to where it doesn't soak into the sponge. If I start to apply this, I'm going to get great coverage, but let me show you. You know, it still can look good, but it's going to be a little bit more obvious that I I makeup on because it's thicker, so it's going to sit on top of the skin versus melting into it. So, you see in here, I've got good coverage. You know, it doesn't look bad at all, but you can tell it's a little bit more foundation-like. Whereas in here, it's glowy, it's lightweight. This looks like skin. Now, step number five is to choose a skin tint over a foundation. I know you're like, "Marlena, just what why does it matter?" It's back to the viscosity. So, I have a skin tint that I love. It's the Kylie Cosmetics one skin tint blurring elixir. Have you tried this? So good. It's probably my favorite skin tint ever. But, I want to show you the texture of it. So, when you're at home and you can get whatever foundation or skin tint that you all want. But, I want you to look for this texture, okay? I'm going to try to get up close on the camera. You see how liquidy that is? Okay, let me tilt it up. Oh, yeah, she's flowing fast. That's a thin viscosity. That is going to look more like skin than a foundation. And skin tints tend to be a little bit lighter in pigmentation. So, for especially anyone out there who is over 35, skin tint is going to be your best friend because it's really going to melt in the skin. It's not going to emphasize texture or fine lines. Same technique, that same brush, Anisa Pinnacle Foundation Brush. Pick up that. Do you see how it soaked right into that brush because it's really thin formula. So, you've got to kind of work fast with it. But, I'm going to buff it into the skin. Sorry, my mirror's over here. Hold on, let me look in the camera. Do you see how thin and lightweight it is? Now, it's going to give me less coverage than the foundation side. But, to look more natural, if you really want, you know, just evening out the skin just a little bit, not a ton of coverage, lightweight, breathable, very effortless to wear, a skin tint is going to be your best friend. And then the same technique, I'm just gently buffing it into the skin. And then I make sure to come down here below the jawline, so the color still blends in. And then for any parts like under the eyes where you need a little bit extra coverage, then you can go in with a concealer or a foundation and touch it up. But, leave most of your skin with the thinnest, lightest amount of coverage possible just to give you a very light, even finish, then touch up the problem areas with extra coverage where needed. Now, step six is another controversial one, and that is using pressed powders over loose powders. Most creators are going to tell you, "Use a loose powder, it's going to give you flawless finish, it's lightweight." Which it is, because of course it's in a loose form, it's going to be very light. But, as a formula, I'm telling you the pressed version of powders are going to look more flawless, especially on over 35 skin, because it has binders in there. Binders are what keep the powders compact to be able to be pressed into a pan, and mostly that is oils. Oils in powders is going to give it a more hydrated look, it's going to be less dry, and ironically enough, less cakey, as long as you apply a thin amount of it. So, let me show you on both sides the difference. So, this is the Rare Beauty pressed powder. Again, I'll list everything below, I don't want to product push, but you're going to take a sponge like this from Amazon, super cheap. You're going to pick up just the slightest bit of powder. Do you see that? Let me get up close to the camera. So, here's my foundation, a little glossy, so I'm going to mattify it a little bit. But, because this has oils in there, it's not going to look as dry. So, it's great for dry to combination skin. If you have oily skin, maybe a loose powder might be a bit better, but let me show you. You see how I'm pressing it and tapping it. And I'm using that least amount of powder. I'm going to take with what's left and do the forehead here. Do you see how it mattified it? Let me get up close to the camera. So, I didn't put any out here, but it still looks like skin. And especially when I do the next steps, which I'll show you in a second, so stay with me, is really going to make this look like skin. So, even if it does look maybe just a little bit flat, which powder does, we're going to touch that up in a second, but do you see how it's not super dry? Now, let's do the other side. This is the Huda Beauty powder. I love this one, I use it a lot, but it's going to give you a different effect. So, we're going to pick up loose powder. Automatically, it's getting me a lot more, because it's loose, so it's going to stick to the sponge. So, you've got to work it in the back of your hand like this and get off the excess. So, now I have just a light layer here. Let's do this side. Let's do the eyelids as well, which I like to do, but so it mattified. Look at that. Do you see how it's a little bit drier this side? Now, I didn't play any tricks, you all. I didn't do it. This is live time. Look at this side and look at this side. This is drier. So, especially if you're older or have dry skin, I'm telling you, hands down, pressed powder over loose is going to be a better option. Step number seven, if you take anything else from this video, listen to this. Cream and liquid blushes and bronzers over powder is always going to look more like skin. So, after you've done your whole base of makeup, which we did, we powder, we did all of that. Powder on top of powders, obviously, is going to blend really easily, and a lot of people, I think, are afraid of putting liquid or creams directly on top of powder if you set it down with a loose or pressed powder, but it's not true. I'll show you how. I have my liquid bronzer. This is the Tarte Shape Tape one. It's one of my favorites. Let me get the applicator here so you can see. I always carve out the jawline cuz I want it to be snatched, you know? And then we're going to put a few dots here just under the cheekbone. And then I have a tall forehead. As I've aged, I kind of my hair is pulled back a little bit, so I do a few dots there. Let's just do this side. Take a brush like this, the BK 109 brush. We're going to just tap this out. And I want to show you up close on the camera. Do you see how that's melting into the skin? And it's over powder. It's not pulling up the powder because it's very lightweight. It's looking like skin because it's not dry like powder. Do you see that kind of light luminosity there? That's what we want to look like skin. We want a natural bronzed effect. And then down here, I know you all are thinking I'm crazy. How is that going to look like real skin, Marlena? Give me a minute. Give me a minute. Blend that sucker out. Get the chin fluff here cuz, you know, we got to we got to chisel that out cuz that's sagging as we age. Okay. And then that brush that we had the foundation on earlier, no more foundation. We're just going to start to blend this out and then under here is where we really start to fade it. Just like that. So you got the darkness here, but then it lightens down. Look at that. You see how it's it looks like skin because it's a liquid. Now, uh cream blushes, you can do cream or liquid. I love the Summer Friday ones. Same brush, just tap a bit in. And this is my pro artist tip is you're going to pick it up on the brush, but you're going to tap it on the back of the hand to really You see that? I would have applied that on the face cuz this is a darker color. I'm going to work it into the brush so I get a light flush color. And then I'm just going to tap just like this. You know, now I do have blush on, of course, of course, but it looks like the texture of skin. That's what we want, the texture of skin. It's glossy. It looks like I'm hydrated, like I drink a ton of water and electrolytes, and I am glassy and glowy, and I'm ready to go out for the day. It looks like skin. And if you need to tap it down, if you're like, "Okay, look, Marlene, I don't want it to be obvious I have blush on." Go in back with that brush. No more foundation on it, just whatever is left on there. You can tap this all in and really make it look natural to where it gives a very soft subtle color just like that. It's beautiful, right? Now, step number eight is going to be our final step, and that is to set it. Now, depending on what your skin looks like, if you feel like it looks dry and you need hydration, you're going to use a hydration spray. Now, there's a difference in setting sprays a lot of people don't talk about. You have setting sprays meant to lock and waterproof your makeup like the One Size one. This is a lock it setting spray. A hydrating setting spray that's going to get rid of cakiness and add hydration is going to be something like this. I love the d'Alba First Spray Serum. Make sure you pay attention to what kind of setting spray that it is. Not all of them are the same. So, I'm going to start first with the hydrating setting spray. I'm going to shake it up, do a couple mists. I love the mister on this cuz it's not too heavy. It's very lightweight. And this is going to melt all of that makeup together. This works great for dry or mature skin cuz it's going to add that hydration back. Do you see how it kind of melted everything together? Now, if you want to set it and lock it down and make it waterproof, that's when you're going to go in with a spray like this, the One Size Beauty one. Try not to breathe it in. She is strong. Do a light mist like that. Let it sit for a bit. This is going to lock it down and make it last all day. So, I like combining the two, to be honest. You can use one or the other, depending on what you need. Definitely dry skin girlies, get you a hydrating one. Oily skin girlies, definitely a lock it one, especially in the summer, it's really going to help it last. And that's how you get skin that looks like skin. If you enjoyed this video, please check out my brand House of Meraki. I formulate cosmetics. I have for a long time. I have high-quality eyeshadow palettes and fragrances that are all done that are all made in the USA with high-quality products. the link here for that. Hopefully, you learned something today. Come back to class next week to learn some more amazing makeup tips. Class dismissed.